Links I Love

Happy Friday, friends! I’m so pumped for the weekend to get here. Tomorrow, Jason and I have a date to see The Last Jedi and on Sunday we’re heading to a friend’s house for a people brunch and doggy play date. But first, how about a round-up of what I’m loving lately?!

What I’m Loving Lately

Books

This Is My Face, Try Not To Stare by Gabourey Sidibe. I just finished listening to the audiobook and LOVED it. Gabourey is an amazing narrator and her story hits on her childhood, her experience with body image, working as a phone sex operator, and being an actress – basically a huge variety of topics. I’m a sucker for celebrity “memoirs” and this is a new fave.

Activities

Sewing. I really got my sewing game on this fall and am proud of the progress I’m making and the patience I’m developing. The two places I get most of my patterns are Patterns for Pirates and Love Notions.

Random

Having people over. I’m loving having people over and celebrating the holiday season. We don’t have people over as much as I’d like to, but it’s been really great this fall inviting friends and family over to connect.

Portrait mode on my new phone (Google Pixel 2). How cute is this pic of Hoss?

What are you loving lately?

Good Morning! I’m sipping a hot cup of coffee, enjoying the early morning sunshine. And listening to the Hamilton soundtrack, because I can’t stop listening to it. It’s a great way to start the day! Now on to what I’m loving lately…

Pop Culture

The Big Sick. Jason and I went to see the Big Sick last weekend and loved it. To me, it was a modern day romantic comedy, but with more heart than a typical romantic copy. Plus, it has a 97% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 92% audience approval.

The Hamilton Soundtrack. I admit that I am 2-3 years late on this one. But I thought I would check out the soundtrack and that has led to me listening to it non-stop. It gets my pumped up and puts a smile on my face, which has been needed lately. Now I am obsessed with figuring out how to get tickets in Chicago or in Minneapolis for next year. Favorite songs: The Schuyler Sisters, You’ll Be Back, Dear Theodosia….all of them!

When Dimple Met Rishi. I read this book Wednesday night in one sitting. I loved it. It was a sweet, YA love story done right. And by done right, I mean it all felt incredibly realistic and I cared about each of the characters. I liked that the teenagers were relatable and didn’t feel like they were fit in the mold of what people think teenagers are. Anyways, HIGHLY recommened!

Life

It’s been an interesting week around these parts. Last night, I finally finished a pair of pants I’ve been sewing. I stopped mid-project because my sewing machine and I got in a fight. But I made a lot of progress last night!

The kind folks at Modern Map Art offered to send me a map of Minneapolis. I love it! There are multiple colors to choose from – I choose green and yellow because they are Packer colors and I like to maintain my Wisconsin identity while living here in MN (#stubborn). I can’t wait to hang this up!

This weekend I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and relaxing a bit. Hopefully reading (Dreamland Burning is up next!) and enjoying the sunshine.

What are you loving lately?

Happy Friday, friends! This is the second week I’m saying this in a row, but this week has been a long one! I’m not sure if it’s getting used to summer being here and wanting to be outside…but I’m wishing I had the entire summer off! #wishfulthinking Before the weekend officially hits, I’m sharing some of what I’m loving lately!

What I’m Loving Lately…

Life

It’s been a quiet week this week. Mostly, I’ve focused on working on house-related things (like cleaning, boo!). This weekend I have a list of things I want to accomplish – mostly chores like cleaning my house and organizing my closet. I’m planning on sewing a pair of pants I began working on for earlier this week (ughhh) and enjoying the sun.

Pop Culture:

I shared my favorite podcasts this week. I highly recommend checking out the Popcast episode #197 – The 2017 Chris-America Pageant. It was sooooo good.

I just started listening to The Wangs vs. The World by Jade Changevia audiobook (old school cds in the car!). I’m loving it, particularly because it’s not what I expected. This was an impulse check out at the library this week, but it’s been on my TBR for awhile now!

Wonder Woman. The move is amazing, and not just as a “female-driven” movie, but as a superhero movie. I loved it. And I’m totally infatuated with Gal Gadot! She is such a badass, but also seems like someone I’d like to sit down and have coffee with.

Your Turn! What are you loving lately? Any fun plans this weekend?

Happy Monday, friends! It was a hot and cold weekend here in Minnesota – almost 100 degrees on Saturday, followed by huge thunderstorms and chillier temps on Sunday. We ended up spending more time inside, in the air conditioned house (which I finally caved and turned on). We saw Wonder Woman (amazing!!!), enjoyed early morning walks, and I sewed while listening to a few podcasts.

My Favorite Podcasts – Everyday Listening

If you are even slightly interested in pop culture, I highly recommend the Popcast with Knox and Jamie. These two are a (literal) gift sent from heaven. Each week, they tackle a topic in pop culture (roles that ruined actors, pop culture proms, traumatic tv deaths) and explore the topic in detail. They agree a little, disagree a lot, and provide commentary that is simultaneously hilarious and on point.

I love Anne Bogel’s podcast and her blog, Modern Mrs. Darcy. On What Should I Read Next, Anne interviews a guest who tells her 3 books they love, 1 book they hate, and what they are reading lately … and she recommends 3 books for them! I love this podcast for the bookish discussion and reading recommendations. Plus, Anne is usually right on point with her recommendations!

This podcast is hosted by Malcolm Gladwell, a best-selling author. He launched this 10 episode podcast last summer and season 2 will be premiering soon. In each episode he examines something that has happened in history, and looks at it from other points of view. I found this to be incredibly fascinating; he brings up ideas and points that I never thought to consider.

Death, Sex, and Money is a podcast all about those taboo topics that we don’t talk about in daily life. As someone who is nosy and likes to talk about weird topics, I love the various conversations that happen on this weekly show.

Apparently, Desert Island Discs is a long-running BBC radio show that I just found out about this year. So I’ve been catching up. Each week, Kirsty Young talks with a celebrity who talks with her about the 8 records they would take with them to a desert island. While doing this, they discuss their life and how the records fit in with their story. At the end, the guest must choose 1 record to bring to the island, plus can choose to bring 1 book (in addition to the Bible and all of Shakespeare’s work).

Recommended episode: Christiane Amanpour

These are just a few of the podcasts that I’m loving lately. If you haven’t given podcasts a try, I highly recommend it. You can listen online or download an app on your phone. I like Pocketcast for Android and I hear Stitcher is great too!

Your turn! What podcast are you loving lately?

Ahhh, Friday! There’s something that makes Fridays even more magical in the summer. Tonight I’m heading to a small get-together with work friends, then have a relatively free weekend ahead of me. I’m planning on doing some reading (obvs), taking long walks with Hoss and the hubs, and enjoying our house. There will likely be some yard work and laundry mixed in, but that’s life. Plus, the summer sunshine makes it well worth it. But before the weekend hits, let’s talk about what I’m loving!

What I’m Loving Lately…

Life:

Sunshine! We’ve finally had some beautiful weather here in Central Minnesota. I’m talking 80 degrees, sunshine all day, light breeze. This is weather I live for in the Midwest. It feels like summer is finally here, which means the windows are open and I can (sometimes) start my day out on the deck, sipping my coffee and enjoying a book.

At night, we’ve been taking advantage of the fire pit in our backyard. We bought our house last fall and didn’t get to use it. We made sure the fire pit was ready for us and we’ve been loving it. There’s just something about sitting around the fire in camp chair, roasting marshmallows, that screams SUMMER!!

Pop Culture:

I Am Jane Doe on Netflix. I’ve been watching much less TV, but found myself on the couch Tuesday night watching this documentary. It’s about the sex trafficking of minors in the US. It’s heavy and depressing, but there are also things we can do. So if you’re looking for a documentary that is a little tough, but incredible, check this one out.

I’m loving Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I’m listening to it on Audible and highly recommend it. The narrator is amazing, which I think can add so much to an already good book.This is a long one (just under 20 hours), but it definitely lives up the hype it received earlier this year!

When Your Greatest Romance is a Friendship This is an intriguing read from the New York times about a friendship between an older woman and younger man. Sometimes romance doesn’t mean sexual romance, but something a little different.

“That night, I had an odd realization: Some of the greatest romances of my life have been friendships. And these friendships have been, in many ways, more mysterious than erotic love: more subtle, less selfish, more attuned to kindness.”

It is impossible to read everything on the internet. Also, I would never want to read everything that is on the internet. Yikes, talk about terrifying. That’s why I like to share links I love each week on the blog – it’s a way to share fun, interesting, and informative finds that I’ve found over the past week.

Books Paired with Chocolate via Read It Forward
Because books + chocolate are the best pairing ever. Just in time for the post-Valentine’s Day chocolate sale!

In other news…

I received a Stitch Fix this week. I ended up keeping one of the five items sent to me. I’ll post a picture later, because the shirt I kept is adorable!

A lot of my holds at the library came in this week. So, I’m going to reading a lot over the next two weeks (but what’s new!!). I am currently reading Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and cannot put it down. I’m looking forward to digging into my next book this weekend!